The norm, in detail
Labor: the company agreement beats the industry union deal
Law 27,802, sections 130 to 137 and 149
in forceNATIONAL
Labor
Derives from: The comprehensive labor reform is now law
The company collective agreement now prevails over the industry union deal and is registered without prior homologation. The sections, verbatim, and what it opens up for an SME supplier.
What changed and who it applies to
What changed
Title XIV of Law 27,802 rewrites four sections of the collective bargaining statute (Law 14,250) and changes who wins when two agreements overlap. The new section 19 sets the order of precedence and says, verbatim: "An agreement of narrower scope prevails, within its personal and territorial scope of representation, over another agreement of broader scope, whether earlier or later". The new section 18 reinforces it from the other side: "Collective Agreements of broader scope may not modify or determine the content of agreements of narrower scope". In parallel, the new section 4 removes the company-level agreement from the homologation bottleneck: company or business-group agreements "shall be filed with the Enforcement Authority for registration, publication and deposit" and "may be homologated at the request of a party" - homologation stops being the gate and becomes optional. Section 149 (amending Law 23,546) says who sits at the table: "In the case of company-level or regional bargaining, union representation shall be that of the first-tier union or unions or the company union". And section 137 starts a clock: the Labor Secretariat has one year from enactment to convene renegotiation of all expired agreements. Section 133, in the same title, caps the contributions an agreement may impose: 0.5% of payroll for what goes to employer chambers and 2% for what goes to worker associations. verif Mar 6, 2026 ↗
In force
In force since the law took effect (published in the Official Gazette on Mar 6, 2026). The section 137 deadline for the Labor Secretariat to convene renegotiation of expired agreements runs one year from promulgation, that is, until March 2027. verif Mar 6, 2026 ↗
Are you in or out?
Any private employer whose staff falls under an industry-wide collective agreement, and in particular any company that wants to bargain its own agreement. On the union side it changes who bargains: in company-level bargaining, representation belongs to the first-tier or company union, not to the industry federation. verif Mar 6, 2026 ↗
The norm
Law 27,802 on Labor Modernization, Title XIV (sections 130 to 137, amendments to Law 14,250 as consolidated in 2004) and Title XVI (section 149, amendment to Law 23,546 as consolidated in 2004). Passed on Feb 27, 2026, promulgated by Decree 137/2026 and published in the Official Gazette on Mar 6, 2026. verif Mar 6, 2026 ↗
Our reading
For an SME trying to supply a large project, the industry-wide agreement is one of the most expensive and least discussed barriers to entry: it inherits a labor cost negotiated by and for the big firms in that industry. The law flips the order - the company agreement now prevails over the industry one, and it is registered rather than waiting for homologation - and with that, labor cost becomes something the company can negotiate at its own table (R5 · better export netback). ⚠️ This reading used to say (R5 · better export netback) and was corrected on 2026-09-05: R5 reads the wellhead side —how much extraction yields— and this rule does not touch any operator's netback; it reads the supplier's side, which is how much it costs to RESPOND to demand. That is precisely the class R10 was created to split off from R5, and this record was written before that split. thesis
Where it lands, province by province5
Neuquén The industry-wide oil and gas agreement sets the wage floor, the allowances and the working day across Vaca Muerta, and it is negotiated by and for the operators and the large service companies. For a small firm trying to break in as a supplier, that framework is an expensive inherited barrier to entry: it pays the cost structure of companies that bill a hundred times more. Once the company-level agreement prevails and is simply registered rather than waiting for approval, labour cost becomes something the small firm can negotiate at its own table. This is the province where the gap between the industry agreement and a small supplier's ability to pay is widest. favorable cheaper to respond: investing takes time, held-back supply shows up at once thesis
Río Negro The same mechanism as in Neuquen and under the same industry-wide agreement, because the Vaca Muerta corridor runs across both provinces: the Rio Negro supplier working on midstream and on the terminal competes under the oil and gas framework without the scale of those who negotiated it. favorable cheaper to respond: investing takes time, held-back supply shows up at once thesis
San Juan Here the framework is mining rather than oil and gas, and the effect arrives by another route: the San Juan niches that bill as a SERVICE have their labour cost tied to an industry agreement that makes no distinction between a large contractor and a twenty-person workshop. The company-level agreement gives that workshop a table of its own, right as construction of the copper projects starts to generate demand. favorable cheaper to respond: investing takes time, held-back supply shows up at once thesis
Salta Same as San Juan on the mining side, with one difference in timing: the lithium plants are already producing, so demand for local suppliers exists today and not four years from now. The industry framework is what weighs most on the cost of a small firm working the puna, where altitude and camp allowances are negotiated high. favorable cheaper to respond: investing takes time, held-back supply shows up at once thesis
Catamarca The same mining mechanism, on the smallest supplier base of the five provinces: this is where an agreement of its own can decide whether a local company gets to bid at all. favorable cheaper to respond: investing takes time, held-back supply shows up at once thesis
The other rules on this subject21
The comprehensive labor reform is now lawLey 27.802 (Official Gazette, Mar 6, 2026, promulgated by Decreto 137/2026)in force
Hire formally for 4 years with employer contributions of 2%+3%Decreto 315/2026 (Official Gazette, May 4, 2026), Ley 27.802 Title XXin force
The labor reform lands: transparent pay slip, ARCA and the end of ultra-activityDecreto 407/2026 (Official Gazette, Jun 1, 2026)in force
Ley Bases: labor modernization and registered employmentLey 27.742, Titles IV-V (Decreto 847/2024); Title II Ch. IV (Decreto 695/2024)in force
The dismissal number, section by sectionLaw 27.802, ss. 10, 51 and 54 to 57 (Title I), rewriting ss. 20, 245, 276, 277 and 278 of the Employment Contract Actin force
Ignacio Aredez· Chief analyst
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